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juggernaut

jug·ger·naut [ júggər nàwt ] (plural jug·ger·nauts)


noun 
Definition:
 
1. crushing force: a force that is relentlessly destructive, crushing, and insensitive

2. U.K. huge truck: a very large long truck for transporting goods in bulk

[Mid-19th century. <Juggernaut]

Word History

It used to be said, apocryphally, that worshipers of Krishna threw themselves under the wheels of the Juggernaut wagon in an access of religious ecstasy, so juggernaut came to be used metaphorically in English for an irresistible crushing force. The British application to large trucks did not become firmly established until the late 1960s.

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